Purdue University students commemorated their graduation with family and friends at the 2023 Spring Commencement ceremonies May 12-14. For the first time, there were a total of nine ceremonies, all in Elliott Hall of Music on the West Lafayette campus, with 9,976 students receiving bachelor's, master’s, professional and PhD degrees. Purdue President Mung Chiang attended all nine ceremonies and
addressed the undergraduates eight times.
Purdue engineers are taking building possibilities to new heights with the university’s role in the research and development of an innovative high-rise construction process. Amit Varma, Purdue’s Karl H. Kettelhut Professor of Civil Engineering, began work on the steel and concrete composite construction system, called SpeedCore, almost a decade ago with the technique’s creator, Ron Klemencic of the engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates. Klemencic is a Distinguished Alumni honoree who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue in 1985.
Heather Eicher-Miller, professor in Purdue’s Department of Nutrition Science, is the winner of the 2023 Danone International Prize for Alimentation (DIPA). DIPA is a 100,000-euro award set up to recognize outstanding, innovative and multidisciplinary scientific research that represents a major advance in alimentation — the umbrella term for sustainable eating and drinking practices that contribute to the health of individuals, including food choice, purchase, preparation, cooking and meal organization, and their determinants.
Mark Lewis, CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, discusses a report on the future of hypersonics supply chains at the National Defense Industrial Association in Arlington, Virginia, May 11. Lewis contributed to the report, an in-depth study on supply chains that are vital to the success of U.S. hypersonics endeavors. Supply chains – which include integration, operations, purchasing and distribution of important materials – are a major cog in hypersonics pursuits, especially at Purdue. The report, “Hypersonics Supply Chains: Securing the Path to the Future,” is available for download
here.
Faced with stringent policy measures, tobacco companies have gotten creative about how they target consumers. As one of 11 faculty hires as part of Purdue’s investment in public health, Bukola Usidame focuses her research on tobacco usage — particularly in targeted populations, which include minorities, adolescents and low-income households.
With almost 550 presentations from April 10-14, we had a wonderful turnout of 300 volunteers who provided important feedback to student presenters while helping academic units choose their top awards. With the consistent support from the Purdue community, we are able to continue growing the event without losing the individualization of the evaluation process. Thank you! – Purdue Office of Undergraduate Research